antibiotics for dental treatment after pfo?!

[Hellvet]

Having had a pfo fixed in may (tho it hasn't sealed yet the little bugger!) i was asked to provide my dentists details so they could advise him on my dental healthcare for the future, now i have a "known cardiac problem"
Fair enough, even though i'd had my teeth checked a week after my op anyway, so wasn't expecting to see them for a while.

I had a dental appointment booked for next week (for a filling i think), they've now rung me and asked me to change the day, and come in an hour before the appointment so that i can have a antibiotic drink, and be supervised in case i have a reaction to it, an hour before my appointment.

OK, but why - presume this is to do with the potential release of bacteria from my mouth during treatment, and them potentially lodging in my heart? Am i going to have to have this every time i have a dentists appointment, or only if they're doing treatment? Will ask the dentist when i see him obviously, but thought you lot might be able to help in the meantime?!

[HelenP]

Hi,

When you have a dental procedure there is a risk of a small amount of bacteria being introduced into your blood stream, these bacteria are normally killed off by our immune system, but there would be a slightly increased risk in your case of the bacteria settling on your pfo and causing an infection in the heart that could be dangerous. The antibiotics are to kill any of these bacteria before they have chance to settle. You would probably need the antibiotics every time you have treatment in the dentist. I dont think that you need them purely for a check up, but for any treatment (including scale and polish) you would need them.

Hope this makes sense
Helen

[ChrisP]

Hi Helen
If you have almost any sort of "heart defect" then there is the possibility of turbulence as the blood flows through the heart. At points of turbulence there is an increased risk of bacteria released during dental treatement lodging at that site and causing a problem called SABE or ABE (Subacute Bacterial Endocarditis or Acute Bacterial Endocarditis). This is an infection which can be pretty nasty and take a fairly prolonged course of antibiotics to clear.
Once your PFO has healed there should be no further problem.

[ChrisP]

Originally Posted by HelenP

Hi,

When you have a dental procedure there is a risk of a small amount of bacteria being introduced into your blood stream, these bacteria are normally killed off by our immune system, but there would be a slightly increased risk in your case of the bacteria settling on your pfo and causing an infection in the heart that could be dangerous. The antibiotics are to kill any of these bacteria before they have chance to settle. You would probably need the antibiotics every time you have treatment in the dentist. I dont think that you need them purely for a check up, but for any treatment (including scale and polish) you would need them.

Hope this makes sense
Helen

Someone can type faster than me !!!!